In the summer of the eighth year of Wei Zhaowu, in view of the tacit understanding between Xiong Hu, the king of Pingyu, and Wang Jian, the commander-in-chief of the Qin army, Zhao Ran, the chief concubine, and others, and with the approval of the Qin State, he obtained the temporary power to occupy the Ba Kingdom, and Ba led the wolf into the house.
Wang Kai could not resist the Chu State, so he had no choice but to surrender to the Chu State.
At this point, the Ba Kingdom fell.
After Bagui surrendered, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu immediately took Xiying Lord Xiong Tao to Jiangzhou.
Although it was embarrassing, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu had to meet with Ba Jin at this moment to deal with the matter of Ba's surrender.
During the process of being surrendered, looking at the eyes of Ba Jin, Ba Man, Fan Bu and other Ganba people with faint disgust or even hatred, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu could not help but feel a little ashamed.
After all, at the beginning, the Chu army came as reinforcements from the Ba family and the Fan family. Unexpectedly, in the end, these reinforcements acted like a magpie's nest.
"I had no choice but to make this decision. I hope King Ba will forgive me."
When meeting Ba Yi, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu said sincerely, as if he was apologizing to Ba Yi.
To be fair, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu really has no choice. After all, the Wei State in the Central Plains has annexed the Qi State and is about to use troops against the Chu State. If the Chu State still cannot control the Ba State, he will restore the grain production of the Ba State to supply the country.
In the next war, Chu will definitely lose the war with Wei.
On one side is Ba Qi, a friend he has known for many years, and on the other side is the country he is loyal to. Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu will of course choose the latter.
Listening to Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu's words that seemed to be an apology, Ba Jin snorted twice with a calm face, without commenting on praise or criticism.
Seeing this, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu sighed secretly.
He knew that although Chu State had taken control of Ba State this time, it did not mean that the Ba people would truly surrender to Chu State - these Ba people were just forced by the current situation and had no choice but to do so.
Xiong Hu had no choice but to secretly hope that time would ease the grievances between the two parties.
But before that, he had to do two things.
First, kill Zhang Qigong from Wei, because this man is the confidant and right-hand man of Wei King Zhao Run. Although Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu and Zhang Qigong got along well before, for the benefit of Chu State, Xiong Hu must get rid of this person.
people.
The second is to kill Chu Shuijun. Regardless of whether it is public or private, Xiong Hu will get rid of Chu Shuijun to avoid future troubles.
So he asked Ba Yi seriously: "King Ba, I wonder where Zhang Qigong from Wei is?"
After hearing Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu's inquiry, Ba Qi sneered with disdain and said lightly: "Mr. Zhang has already left Jiangzhou and returned to Wei State."
Xiong Hu frowned when he heard this and asked, "Which path did he take?"
"I don't know."
Ba Jin said calmly, then glanced at Xiong Hu and added: "Unlike some people, I, the Ba family, will not betray our friends."
Next to him, Fan Bu, the new patriarch of the Fan clan, also sneered repeatedly and looked at Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu with a look of disdain.
In fact, as Ba Yi said, since there is nothing much that can be done on the Ba Kingdom, Zhang Qigong left Jiangzhou with Mi Rui and a group of witches a few days in advance to avoid being forced to cross the river by Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu. However, Zhang Qigong's deputy Bei Gong
Yu, Beigong Yu, who provoked the war between Qin and Chu behind the scenes, is still in the Fan clan. After all, Beigong Yu wants to ensure that Chu can only get the land of Ba, but not the hearts of Ba.
Of course, how could Fan Bu reveal such a thing to Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu?
In desperation, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu could only send a few groups of soldiers to pursue Zhang Qigong as a pretense, but he did not dare to ask Xiying Lord Xiong Tao or Chu General Doulian's troops to pursue the latter.
The reason is that when Zhang Qigong fled, he took away Mi Rui and other witches. Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu was afraid that Xiying Lord Xiong Tao or the army under Chu General Doulian would accidentally injure Mi Rui when they pursued Zhang Qigong.
On that day, the Chu army entered Jiangzhou. So far, the entire territory of Ba except "Langzhong" was still occupied by the Qin general Wang Jian, and the rest had basically been occupied by the Chu army.
Just as Zhang Qigong judged, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu also knew that his move by Chu State to occupy Ba State was destined to fail to win the hearts and minds of the Ba people. Naturally, he did not dare to keep Ba Jin in Jiangzhou. After all, if Ba Jin continued to stay in Jiangzhou,
In this state, the Ba people are likely to rebel during the "Wei-Chu War", which is a huge threat to the Chu State.
Therefore, he decided to let Ba Qi move to the west of Chu, preferably to Pingyu County, his fiefdom, where he could be monitored by him anytime and anywhere.
However, when he mentioned the matter to Ba Jin, Ba Jin was not surprised and said to Xiong Hu, Lord Pingyu, in a somewhat mocking tone: "Mr. Zhang made assumptions before he left.
Hou may ask me to move to the west of Chu, but I never thought that Mr. Zhang would guess it."
Listening to Ba Jin's sarcastic words, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu felt even more embarrassed, but he finally decided to bring Ba Jin to Chuxi. As for the Ba Kingdom, he left it to Ba Man and Fan Bu to appease him.
The hearts and minds of the Ba people.
Bamanai was a general of the Ba Kingdom. He was a loyal man and loyal to Ba Jin. Xiong Hu, Lord of Pingyu, believed that this man would not dare to commit any rebellious behavior that would affect Ba Jin's safety in the Chu Kingdom.
As for Fan Bu, he was ignored by Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu. After all, in Xiong Hu's view, Fan Bu was just a brave and foolhardy young man, not enough to affect the overall situation.
Ba Jin agreed to Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu's request and entrusted everything in Ba to General Baman.
After returning to his tribe's base, Fan Bu told Bei Gongyu about the incident and praised Zhang Qigong and Beigong Yudao: "Sir, you are so good at predicting things. Xiong Hu really intends to bring Ba Yi to Western Chu.
"
When Bei Gongyu heard this, he was determined. After all, Zhang Qigong and he wanted to bring Ba Jin to Wei. If Ba Jin stayed in Jiangzhou and was under the supervision or protection of the Chu army, it would be difficult for them to take action. However,
Now that Xiong Hu intends to bring Ba Jin to Chuxi, they have many opportunities to rob people on the way.
However, the matter of kidnapping Ba Yi will be handled by the Black Crows under Zhang Qigong and has nothing to do with Bei Gongyu. He stayed with the Fan clan just to assist Ba Man and Fan Bu and ensure that the Chu State could not obtain the Ba clan's rights.
People's hearts.
So he suggested to Fan Bu: "This matter has nothing to do with the Fan clan. The clan leader only needs to absorb people from other tribes, strengthen the Fan clan, and train warriors in the clan, so as to prepare for the future and drive the Qin and Chu armies out of the country of Ba."
.”
"That's what sir said."
Fan Bu nodded with deep understanding.
Seeing Fan Bu's trust in him, Bei Gongyu also felt a little guilty. After all, it was he who was behind everything and introduced the Qin army into the country of Ba, which indirectly led to Fan Bu, the old patriarch of the Fan family who also trusted him.
Lie Zhan died in Langzhong, and died in the war with the Qin army.
"... He has such trust in me. I will make plans for him in the future and make meritorious deeds for him, so that I can sincerely ask Your Majesty to confer the title of Fan family."
Beigong Yu said secretly in her heart.
It is not a problem for Bei Gongyu to advise Fan Bu and let him perform meritorious service, but now, he has to keep this matter in his heart to avoid letting the Chu army know about it.
At the same time, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu was staying in Jiangzhou City, thinking about "bringing Ba Jin to Chuxi".
Originally, this was Xiong Hu's decision after careful consideration, but when he mentioned the matter to Ba Hao today, Ba Hao told him with a hint of ridicule that Zhang Qigong had already guessed this, which made Xiong Hu couldn't help but
Thinking about this again.
Zhang Qigong had already guessed this?
Does this mean that Zhang Qigong might send someone to rob Ba Yi and take him to Wei?
Xiong Hu thought about it carefully and felt that this was very possible. After all, Ba Jin represented the orthodoxy of the Ba Kingdom. If Ba Jin was obtained by the Wei State, it would mean that the Wei State had obtained the status of the Ba Kingdom. Although at present,
In terms of the situation, Xiong Hu really didn't believe that the Wei State would send troops to attack Bashu when it was about to go to war with Chu State.
You must know that for Chu State, Bashu is the prerequisite for starting a war with Wei State, but for Wei State, it is not the case. Now that Wei State has actually occupied half of the Central Plains, Bashu may not be interested in Bashu.
Of course, this was the attitude of the Wei State, and it did not mean that Zhang Qigong would not send people to kidnap Ba Qi on the way - in fact, based on his understanding of Zhang Qigong, Xiong Hu believed that this was very possible.
Otherwise, wouldn’t Zhang Qigong’s trip to Pakistan be in vain?
After pondering, Lord Pingyu Xiong Hu ordered someone to summon Lord Chu Shui.
You read that right, it was Chu Shuijun who, like Xiong Hu, wanted to kill each other and who had previously joined forces with the Xiang clan.
Speaking of Chu Shuijun, we must start with the incident of "Qin's army entering Ba".
On that day, Bei Gongyu pretended to be an envoy from the Qin State and reached an agreement with Xiang Bin, the leader of the Xiang clan. Although he directed and acted on his own during the journey, he asked the Fan clan and the Black Crows to attack the envoy and escape by feigning death. However, the Qin army and Xiang Bin
The agreement between the Qin clan and the Qin army was recognized by Wang Jian, the commander-in-chief of the Qin army.
As a result, the Qin army and the Xiang clan reached a tacit agreement, which greatly increased Xiang Bin's ambitions.
But Chu Shuijun noticed something was wrong.
Xiang Li Ling was so stupid that he did not realize the dangers of inviting the Qin army into the country, but how could Lord Chu Shui have thought of it? He predicted very early that once the Qin army assisted the Xiang clan, although it would help the Xiang clan gain an advantage in the early stage,
Next, the Ba clan will definitely ask for reinforcements from Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu, and this means that a war will definitely break out between the Qin and Chu armies.
Therefore, he suspected that this whole thing might be a conspiracy.
Since Chu Shuijun did not know that Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu were in the Ba Kingdom at the time, he cast his suspicious eyes on Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu's side, mistakenly thinking that the Ba family had previously rejected Xiong Hu's request.
Therefore, Xiong Hu deliberately asked people to promote an alliance between the Qin army and the Xiang clan, so that the Chu army under his command could have the opportunity to intervene in the Ba family.
But thinking about it carefully, Lord Chu Shui didn't think that Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu had enough capable subordinates to facilitate this matter.
All in all, although he had guessed the whole story, Chu Shuijun did not tell the truth. After all, in his opinion, once Xiong Hu's army intervened in the Ba Kingdom, a war would inevitably break out with the Qin army, which would make the Ba Kingdom
The situation around him has become more chaotic, which is not a bad thing for him - what does the life and death of Xiong Hu's soldiers have to do with him?
Sure enough, although the Xiang clan, with the help of the Qin army, quickly gained an advantage, as the Ba clan invited Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu's army, the Xiang clan was immediately beaten back to its original shape.
To make matters worse, the Qin army had already captured Langzhong and did not care about the life or death of the Xiang clan. As a result, the Xiang clan was defeated by Xiong Tao, the king of Xiying, and Doulian, the general of Chu.
Chu Shuijun was also a little angry because his previous plan was completely shattered.
But what surprised him the most was that Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu personally came forward a while ago to persuade the Qin army to cease war with the Chu army.
what does that mean?
This means that the Qin army led by Wang Jian will work with the Chu army led by Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu to carve up the country of Ba, which means that all other forces except the two will be jointly excluded by Qin and Chu.
It also means that the Qin army gave up the Xiang clan, which was once used as a stepping stone to open the door of Ba, and intended to use the Chu army to eradicate the Xiang clan.
"Either Qin or Chu", this is the current situation of the Ba Kingdom.
Sure enough, after reaching an agreement with the Qin army, Xiong Tao, the king of Xiying, and Dou Lian, the Chu general, launched a massive attack on the Xiang clan. The Xiang clan, which had surpassed the Ba clan in power a while ago, was attacked again in a very short period of time.
Returned to his true form.
Facing the Chu army's attack, the Xiang family retreated steadily, and finally fled into the mountains to the north to hide.
Realizing that the Xiang clan was in doom, Chu Shuijun immediately abandoned Xiang Bin and went to Chu General Doulian, who was stationed in "Linjiang" at that time.
Dou Lian is a veteran general of the Chu State. He has experienced several major battles involving hundreds of thousands of people, such as "Four Kingdoms Conquered Chu", "Five Kingdoms Conquered Wei", "All Countries Conquered Wei", etc. The earliest one was the Prime Minister of Chu State defending the city.
Later, after Nanmen Chi defected to Wei, Doulian was transferred to the general Xiang Mo's tent. After Xiang Mo died in Yongqiu, he was transferred to Xinjin Santianzhu, Xinjin Santianzhu,
Under the command of Yang Jun Xiang Pei, that is to say, this person is not a Chuxi general from Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu's lineage, and may not follow Xiong Hu's instructions.
In fact, Xiying Jun Xiong Tao does not take orders from Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu in everything. However, Xiong Hu has been operating in Chuxi for so many years and has a close relationship. Chu Shuijun does not dare to test Xiying Jun Xiong with his own life.
Is Tao obedient to Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu?
Sure enough, Doulian, a general of the Chu State, was not aware of the conflict between Lord Chu Shui and Lord Pingyu Xiong Hu and Lord Xiong Sheng of Liyang. He was very surprised that Lord Chu Shui was in Bashu.
Therefore, Chu Shuijun told Doulian the purpose of his coming to Ba Kingdom, that is, King Xiong Tuo of Chu asked him to perform meritorious service and seize Bashu.
Because Lord Chu Shui had the royal order from King Xiong Tuo of Chu, Doulian was convinced, so he put Lord Chu Shui into "Linjiang" and sent someone to report the matter to Lord Pingyu Xiong Hu.
When Xiong Hu learned this, he was shocked and angry. What surprised him was that Chu Shuijun had the guts to appear in front of him. What he was angry about was that Chu Shuijun had instigated the Xiang family to intercept and kill him, Mi Rui and his party.
But the problem is that Chu Shuijun's appearance in Linjiang has been known to many Chu soldiers under Dou Lian's command, so Xiong Hu was not able to do anything for a while.
Even the Prime Minister of Chu State, Liyang Lord Xiong Sheng, secretly asked Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu to eradicate Lord Chu Shui. However, this was a high-level struggle within Chu State, so naturally it was not easy for everyone to know about it.
To put it bluntly, except for Xiong Tuo, the king of Chu, no one can take the life of Chu Shuijun.
But now, because he speculated that the Wei man Zhang Qigong might send someone to kidnap Ba Jin, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu suddenly felt that this might be an opportunity to use the Wei people to eradicate Lord Chu Shui.
So, he immediately sent someone to summon Chu Shuijun.
Two days later, Chu Shuijun was invited and arrived in Jiangzhou from Linjiang.
In front of Xiying Jun Xiong Tao and other uninformed Chu generals, Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu and Chu Shuijun showed no intention to kill each other. I believe that people who don't know may think that the two are close.
After some pleasantries, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu said to Chu Shuijun: "I have reached an agreement with the Qin State. The affairs of the Ba State have come to an end for the time being. There is no big problem for the Chu Shui Lord to stay in the Ba State. It is better to go first
Go back to your country."
Although Lord Chu Shui did not want to return home, he was not as powerful as Lord Pingyu Xiong Hu, so he had no choice but to nod.
Seeing this, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu said again: "By the way, since Chushui Lord is going back to his country, why not go with Ba Jin and his party? Ba Jin is a man of noble status, so remember not to make any mistakes."
Upon hearing this, Chu Shuijun's expression changed slightly. Could he not have guessed Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu's malicious intention?
It was obvious that Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu wanted to repeat the drama of sending troops to intercept and kill him on the way, as revenge for his previous actions.
Unfortunately, Xiying Jun Xiong Tao is the nominal subordinate of Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu, and Chu general Dou Lian has to take orders from Xiong Hu to a large extent. No one speaks for Chu Shuijun at all, so Chu Shui
Even if you know that Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu has no good intentions, you can only agree.
Afterwards, Xiong Hu summoned his general "Chen Li" and gave the latter private instructions. If the Wei people on Zhang Qigong's side really attacked Chu Shuijun and Ba Qi's team, then he asked Chen Li to do two things: firstly
First, abandon King Shui of Chu and let him be killed by the Wei people; second, if Ba Yi cannot be taken away, kill the latter.
"The general will obey his orders."
Chen Li cupped his fists and accepted the order.
After that, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu deliberately released news to the entire Ba Kingdom, saying that Ba Jin would go to his capital of Chu State, Shouying, to meet with his Chu Kingdom monarch Xiong Tuo to discuss the relationship between Chu and Ba.
This seems to be to appease the Ba people and reduce the Ba people's resistance to "taking Ba Yi away". In fact, he is deliberately spreading the news to the Wei people on Zhang Qigong's side, asking Zhang Qigong to control Chu Shuijun and Ba Yi's departure.
Ba's route took over the Wei people's hand and eradicated Chu Shuijun.
If Xiong Hu was not mistaken, his cousin Mi Rui was also brought with Zhang Qigong at this moment, which could be regarded as a disguised form of helping his cousin Mi Rui to avenge her.
Xiong Hu believed that with Zhang Qigong here, Chu Shuijun would definitely be doomed this time.
The only difference lies in the life and death of Ba Jin - if Ba Jin is brought to Chu alive and Chu Shuijun is killed by the Wei people, then Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu's side will win a complete victory; to take a step back, assuming that Ba Jin
Both Xiong Hu and Chu Shuijun died on the way, and he, Xiong Hu, could blame the whole thing on the Wei people.
All in all, it's not a bad thing anyway.
A few days later, Zhang Qigong and Mi Rui, who were hiding in the Bashan area, received the news about "Chu Shuijun escorting Ba Wangcheng to Shouying, the capital of Chu". After being slightly stunned, he laughed dumbly and said: "
This Xiong Hu seems to be kind, but in fact he is also a cruel person. He actually wants to use our hands to get rid of Lord Chu Shui..."
However, the complaints were complaints, so Zhang Qigong immediately sent someone to ask the Nanyang Jie tribe to send a group of soldiers to intercept and kill Chu Shuijun on the way.
He vowed to Mi Rui: "Lord Mi Rui, I promised you that day that I would fully assist you in killing Lord Chu Shui. Today is the day when I fulfill my promise!"
Looking at Zhang Qigong with a sincere face, Mi Rui was stunned and nodded dully: "Man, thank you..."
"...As long as I help Master Mi Rui kill Lord Chu Shui, I should be able to completely resolve her hostility towards me... Well, although it is quite unpleasant to be used by Xiong Hu, but if this can offset Master Mi Rui's hostility,
That’s not a bad thing.”
Zhang Qigong thought arrogantly.
In view of the other party's identity, he naturally hopes to have a good relationship with the latter.
At the same time, an inexplicable look appeared on Mi Rui's face.
"Why does this guy... why does he show his kindness to me so many times? Could it be... that he actually has ulterior motives for me? Humph! You are just my brother-in-law's servant, stop wishing for anything! ... But then again, maybe this guy actually does.
It's not that hateful, huh..."
Staring at Zhang Qigong closely, Mi Rui thought to herself.
It has to be said that even though they have been together for a long time, these two people still have no tacit understanding at all.